Summary

The Good

Given the limitations of the hardware of the time, this was an amazing game which prefigured almost all the best features of the more modern title, Fallout.

The post-apocalyptic setting allowed for the combination of recognizable modern objects and weapons with a completely unknown wilderness, and the actual story was complex and interesting.

The recognizability of things was particularly important because it allowed item descriptions to be terse without failing to inform. On a 48K machine with 140K disks, keeping descriptions down to 20 characters or so allowed for a much bigger world.

The Bad

Although it was "realistic" and designed to be part of game balance, the extremely limited finite ammunition supply combined with the possibility of random monster encounters could make the game very frustrating. (Luckily, there was an exploitable design feature in the Apple ][ version that let you overcome this.)

The Bottom Line

One of those games that is original and fun to play, and seminal in the development of the industry. An engaging story and world to explore, and in every way a worth ancestor to Fallout.